damian 0 Posted January 14, 2004 Share Posted January 14, 2004 In Japan, the land of hygiene, I am having great difficulty buying strong and effective cleaning products. It has been almost 2 years and I am still have not mopped my kitchen, toilet and bathroom floors with anything stronger than hand soap sold as floor cleaner. Seriously, the strongest stuff I have found could be used as mouth wash. Back in Oz there was multiple brands and types of disinfectant available for home hygiene purposes. They took up half a supermarket aisle. This stuff smelt like it worked, containing bleach, ammonia or chlorine etc etc. Obviously people in Tokyo use antibacterial disinfectants to clean their bathroom and toilet floors, walls etc.... I just assume that these goods are not sold in my locality. Anyone know where I can get them? (sure, chemicals are not good for living areas, but neither are germs) (one shop dude told me that Japanese people do not need to clean the floor as they don't wear shoes inside. I asked him how that applied to toilets and bathrooms. He told me they didn't wear shoes inside..... I gave up). Link to post Share on other sites
mogski 0 Posted January 14, 2004 Share Posted January 14, 2004 Can't help you d.??_-#$-whatever you call yourself now-?:"+b, I don't wear shoes inside. Link to post Share on other sites
gammaman 0 Posted January 14, 2004 Share Posted January 14, 2004 My housemates have an ingenious method of disinfecting the toilet floor which involves pissing all over it. Urine, I am informed, is particularly effective at killing the little blighters. I have a nagging feeling that there must be a better way Link to post Share on other sites
sunrise 0 Posted January 14, 2004 Share Posted January 14, 2004 Check out the import shops like American Pharmacy or places like National Azabu supermarket, maybe also Kinokunya in Omotosando. Link to post Share on other sites
snobee 0 Posted January 15, 2004 Share Posted January 15, 2004 Don't know where you're shopping, but no shortage of "skin stripping products" here. In fact there's been promotions from time to time to encourage folks to use more "natural" products instead of the harmful industrial strength ones. Any big supa or DYI should have a stock of these. My mother in law proudly showed me her bathroom the other week after her end of the year "O-Soji". Just sprayed it on, left it, and wiped it off. Chriiiiist! Good thing Saddam didn't have it. Wiped out untold more. Anti-bacterial products are probably not what you want. Use of anti-bac./anti-biotic cleansers is highly contentious at the mo' - you know breeding super resistant bugs and weakening immune systems. Of course there's good ol' Elbow Grease - ha, ha! Happy Cleaning. Link to post Share on other sites
damian 0 Posted January 15, 2004 Author Share Posted January 15, 2004 thxs guys, I have raided the local large DIY. They are useless. In fact I have tried all local outlets. I live in an area that has reasonably large houses.... what the hell do people use to clean them? I agree that strong chems are not so good, but my imune system is very strong thanks to the filthy sex life I have maintained for the last 10 years (or don't dirty dreams count in building immune systems?). The search continues.... Link to post Share on other sites
slimeypete 0 Posted January 15, 2004 Share Posted January 15, 2004 I've noticed the same. Cleaning products here are pathetic. You can almost drink them and not be affected. Even washing up liquid looks watered down. Give us some good old Domestos or something like that. Link to post Share on other sites
Dims 0 Posted January 15, 2004 Share Posted January 15, 2004 Listen to snobee, antibacterial cleaning products and especially washing up liquid is BAD, BAD, BAD. Link to post Share on other sites
sweetaz 0 Posted January 15, 2004 Share Posted January 15, 2004 ok...dont ask me how i know this...but... The theory on the development of a "super-bug" is just that...a theory. All testing todate has proven that bugs do not become resistant to consistently used antibac cleaners. In saying that, there has been a huge trend over the last few yrs to move away from using anti-bac cleaners in places other than toilet bowls (places where there could be infections etc)....instead people are using Micro-fibre cloths which clean without chemicals. Or alternatively they are using "detergent" based cleaners (which use the ph level to breakdown dirt), in conjunction with good ol elbow grease. The main reasons for this are: 1. Anti-bacterials are not particularly good "cleaners"(don't remove dirt very well) 2. Commercial Cleaners don't want to pay for chemicals so they are moving to micro-fibre as it enables them to be more competitive. (but there are only certain things this is good for) 3. Chemicals can damage surfaces and people. 4. Some peeps believe in the superbug theory. "Natural" Cleaners such as Citrus based or Orange cleaners have become fairly popular, but they really are abit of a fad - it's all in the marketing. They contain citric acid, which can be VERY harsh...depending upon the concentration. Also there are other drawbacks with them such as the level of residue they leave etc. Link to post Share on other sites
damian 0 Posted January 15, 2004 Author Share Posted January 15, 2004 yes yes yes, I have heard it all before. In the meantime I still want to use a blaster product once every while to strip away all germs and bacteria. My kitchen floor has a dog walking on it. He spends his whole time walking around his back yard, going to the toilet and patrolling the kitchen for food. Gentle cleaners are not good enough. Secondly, I have never encountered a chemical that was bad for me. In fact, I have a lot to thank them for. Link to post Share on other sites
fukdane 2 Posted January 16, 2004 Share Posted January 16, 2004 Too right. What is "Mio"? Link to post Share on other sites
snobee 0 Posted January 16, 2004 Share Posted January 16, 2004 Sweetaz - "All testing todate has proven that bugs do not become resistant to consistently used antibac cleaners" That's SOME claim. Science is so simple . Link to post Share on other sites
Dims 0 Posted January 16, 2004 Share Posted January 16, 2004 No sweetaz, I want to know how you know this, being a bit of a science geek myself. What I am wondering about is weather antibac detergent residue would remian on plates, then while eating your next meal you ingest small amounts. Given that resistance is a proven fact in cases of over prescription or over use of antibiotics could this not be a problem over the long term. Or are you arguing that antibiotic resistance is not a problem at all (tell that to hospital-based golden staph)? Besides, they are totally OTT as humans do have a immune system! Link to post Share on other sites
crazyski 0 Posted January 16, 2004 Share Posted January 16, 2004 I only opened this thread because I wanted to see this little antibac/immunity arguement. I'm glad there are some that subscribe to the basic premise of evolution (snowbee and dims). I was all hyped to spew science, but I seem to have lost the desire. I'll leave you something to think about: Many antibacterial soaps claim they kill 99% or even 99.9% of bacteria. Given that a ridiculously high % of bacteria are pretty harmless, I wonder what that 0.1% of the bacteria not killed are. What a world it would be if the dangerous, disease-causing bacteria were always in the 99.9% portion? We could go around drinking soap to stay healthy! Yay! Link to post Share on other sites
MistaSparkle 0 Posted January 16, 2004 Share Posted January 16, 2004 Agreed. dims, crazyski... I took a science course at uni which covered this, and according to my professor (if I remember correctly) standard soap alone is enough to kill bacteria. and as far as antibiotics go... A good buddy of mine who I grew up with, since he was a little kid, always took antibiotics when he'd get even a little cold. His folks are doctors, and there were always drug samples laying around his house. Now in his mid 20s, he gets sick all the time, and when he does get sick, he HAS to take antibiotics, because IMO his immune system is weak from not doing the work it should have been doing. As a personal rule, I try to beat a cold sans drugs if I can. Only when Im dead sick will I resort to anti-biotics... Link to post Share on other sites
mogski 0 Posted January 16, 2004 Share Posted January 16, 2004 Once again not much to say to hel you there Mr. Formely Known as "db" but I would just like to share with the group one of the ironicies of my Bathroom. I often shop at Costco and came across a special on "Tilex Mold and Mildew remover." Huge bottles, US strength, has to be great for my moldy bathroom surely. I purchased and used. Worked great got rid of the mold in the unit bath made the place smell like swimming pool arena. Excellent. Clean and fresh bathroom area. I come home from holiday to find that my "Tilex Mold and Mildew Remover" bottle is covered in ,whatelse, but MOLD! Link to post Share on other sites
sweetaz 0 Posted January 16, 2004 Share Posted January 16, 2004 Ok - here ya go. http://www.cmmonline.com/News.asp?mode=4&N_ID=31738 "ALL" was prob a bit strong...should have put a "just" in there. How do i know...? I've read alot of papers on the differences between active agents contained in cleaning chemicals and hand care products - how they work etc - and have read up on theories such as this. But then...stranger things have happened than the "super germ" so... Link to post Share on other sites
snobee 0 Posted January 17, 2004 Share Posted January 17, 2004 Interesting link - BUT one could say THEY have a certain vested interest in their claims ie. sales. Dims remark re Golden Staph's BOOM is right to the point. Perhaps some industry insiders can enlighten us on this theory. Link to post Share on other sites
Dims 0 Posted January 17, 2004 Share Posted January 17, 2004 Sweetaz, Jesus, where do I start? First of all the above link is to a cleaning industry website and the so called experts quoted in the article are from cleaning companies who produce and market said antibac cleaning products. As Snobee said, how much more of a vested interest could there be? Secondly, even on that website a more recent article than the one above talks about the American Medical association releasing a report that says antibac cleaning products not only constitute a health risk but are not effective in removing/perventing further infection. To convince me I'd like to see peer-reviewed, reputable research in top science journals that shows these products are not a health threat. Not having a go at you mate, but if you have done a lot of reading on the matter then I am interested to see some good solid references to back this arguement up. I am a Plant Molecualr biologist doing a Post-Doc here in Japan, and much of my work consists of screening transgenic plant lines on antibacterial growth media, so while not a microbiologist by profession, I do know a little bit about the subject at hand. And I am a big fan of the theory of natural selection. Anyway, it's good to have a bit of healthy scientific debate on what is a contencious and topical subject. Link to post Share on other sites
damian 0 Posted January 17, 2004 Author Share Posted January 17, 2004 I just want to clean my toilet. Link to post Share on other sites
veronica 2 Posted January 17, 2004 Share Posted January 17, 2004 It's not such an unreasonable thing to ask is it, deebee? Link to post Share on other sites
miteyak 0 Posted January 17, 2004 Share Posted January 17, 2004 The answer is in here somewhere... ah, yes...costco Link to post Share on other sites
big-will 7 Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 Find anything yet? Link to post Share on other sites
damian 0 Posted January 20, 2004 Author Share Posted January 20, 2004 nope. Link to post Share on other sites
MistaSparkle 0 Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 why dont you worry about cleaning your jacket's glove inserts first. Your jacket smells like it'll get up and go snowboarding on it's own. Link to post Share on other sites
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